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THE STORY OF 



A PRIVATE SOLDIER 



IN 



THE REVOLUTION. 



By JOHN FOSTER. 



GIVEN BEFORE THE MANCHESTER HISTORIC 
ASSOCIATION, JUNE 18, 1902. 



The Story of a Private Soldier in the Revolution 

AN ADDRESS BY JOHN FOSTER, DELIVERED BEFORE THE MANCHES- 
TER HISTORIC ASSOCIATION, JUNE iS, 1 902. 



Ladies and Gentlemen of the Historic Association: — Tlie 
morning sun of the twentieth century shines upon a magnificent 
era. Civilization has made (vonderful strides in the past hundred 
years. The arts of war, no less than those of peace, have 
reached in our minds the plane of perfection. Our armies on 
the land, and our navy on the sea, are perfect in discipline and 
equipment. We have an arm that has a deadly range at a dis- 
tance of two and one-half miles. We have an ordinance that 
will send a looo-pound ball through an ii-inch armor plate, at 
a distance of 12 miles. Our military and naval commanders are 
trained in the best schools in the world, and the rank and file 
are disciplined by that training. Contemplating these facts, let 
us draw a comparison. 

Let us turn from the conditions of today, back to the situation 
of a century and a quarter ago. From the drilled and skilled 
professional soldier, to the untrained yeomen of 1775, who stood 
behind those clumsy flintlock muskets, grimly waiting the ap- 
proach of the best drilled soldiers of Europe. 

History tells us much of brave deeds of commanding officers, 
of how they fought and won ; but of the sturdy fellows who stood 
behind the guns, poorly paid, miserably fed, and scantily 
equipped, and fought through that dreary period of seven years, 
we have left but little individual record. 

It is of one, who as a private soldier in the Revolution, bore 
an honorable part, that I wish to tell you tonight. 

Moses Fellows, my mother's grandfather, was born in Plais- 



tow, N. H., Aug. 9, 1755. He removed to Salisbury, N. H., 
with his parents, when 11 years of age, and settled on a tract of 
wild land on the slopes of Kearsarge mountain. 

Their life was full of frontier incidents. Occasionally an Indian 
scare, now and then, a bear or deer was hunted, and killed, to 
replenish the larder. At the age of 18 he killed a moose on the 
Kearsarge. 

Under such conditions the youth developed into a young man 
of rugged constitution and iron nerve, and when the news of 
Lexington and Concord came up the valley of the Merrimack, 
he, with eight others from Salisbury^ hastened to enlist in Cap- 
tain Baldwin's Company, of John Stark's Regiment, and hurried 
to the scene of action. 

At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Stark's command and a body of 
200 Connecticut men were stationed at the rail fence, the line 
extending to Mystic river. Their ammunition was limited to 
twelve rounds to a man. The stern order ran along the line, 
"Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes, and then aim at 
their waistbands." Thus the New Hampshire boys waited the 
approach of the British regulars on the morning of June 17, 

1775. 

When the enemy had reached a certain point, the order to 
fire was given, and the 800 men under Stark, went to work as 
coolly as though they were hoeing corn on their native hills, fir- 
ing slowly and deliberately, seeking to make every shot tell. 
Captain Baldwin went down, but the Salisbury men fought on 
till the last round had been exhausted, and Moses Fellows found 
himself with a single charge of powder, and no ball left ; but 
the boy from Kearsarge rammed home the powder, left the ram- 
rod in the barrel, and blazed away at close range. The dis- 
charge was effective, for a Redcoat was spitted by the novel 
projectile. 

The result of the fight at Bunker Hill, is history. Though in 
fact it was gained by the British, the moral effect was a victory 
for the Americans. The colonists demonstrated to themselves 



5 

and the world that they could fi'jht, that they were in earnest, 
and that their colors were up to stay. 

After the battle, Colonel Stark's regiment was stationed at 
Winter Hill, near Boston, 

On the 8th of September, 1775, Moses Fellows, and one of his 
Salisbury mates, secured a transfer to Captain Dearborn's Com- 
pany, which was to join an expedition up the Kennebec river, 
through the wilderness, with Quebec as an objective point, under 
Benedict Arnold. 

And, as I reach the name of Arnold in this narrative, I am 
constrained to diverge slightly from my topic. 

Benedict Arnold — history has said little of him, but what it 
has said, has been spoken in words of ignominy and shame, and 
in a great measure justly. 

What I have to say is this: What a dismal collapse of a 
brilliant career was Arnold's downfall. He had a grievance, and 
in a certain measure a just one. For reasons that have not been 
fully explained, he was jumped in rank by another officer. So 
was Stark, who retired from the service upon his dignity. But 
instead of following Stark's example, Arnold, who might have 
figured in history as the Sheridan of the Revolution, sacrificed 
his honor and his name, and disappeared forever. 

We return to the Quebec expedition. They went aboard the 
vessel at Newburyport, on Sept. 19, 1775, ^""^ sailed up the 
Kennebec river, to Fort Western, now Augusta. Two women, 
wives of soldiers, accompanied the expedition throughout; a 
Mrs, Greer and a Mrs. Warner, At Fort Western they disem- 
barked, and took to boats with their provisions and stores, went 
up the river to the Great Carrying Place, so called, where they 
landed, and went 12 miles over land, to Dead river, carrying 
their boats and provisions, four men bearing a barrel of flour 
hung on two poles by ropes. The boats were turned bottom 
up, and carried upon the men's shoulders. Thus they traveled 
to the head of Dead river, through the trackless forest of Maine ; 
arriving at that point, they divided their provisions, and each 



man took his share. Then they traveled five miles over the 
Highlands, to a river that runs into Skedack pond, followed 
down the river to the pond, went around the east and north 
sides of the pond, until they came to the Chaudire river^ in 
Canada, the outlet of the pond. They traveled down the east 
side of the river, ten or twelve days, to the French settlements, 
which they reached the gth day of November, 1775, followed 
down the St. Lawrence river to Point Levi. On the J 3th of 
November they crossed the river, and went to the Plains of 
Abraham, but not having a force strong enough to attack the 
enemy, they went back up the river, eleven miles to Point Au- 
trembleSj and stayed there until General Montgomery came 
down from Montreal, with his cannon and mortars. 

During their journey through the wilderness, their provisions 
were exhausted, which caused much suffering from hunger. 
^ After their provisions were divided at the head of Dead river 
many of the men were not economical with their food, conse- 
quently, were soon without anything to eat. He was prudent 
of his, and was fortunate enough to kill a partridge, which he 
boiled, made a supper and breakfast out of the broth, carrying 
the meat with him for future use. By so doing, he did not suf- 
fer as much as some less prudent. The men were compelled to 
dig rootSj cook and eat them. An old dog that had followed 
the army, was killed, and eaten by the hungry men, even to 
his feet, nose and tail. 

. Their shoes gave out and many made moccasins out of raw 
moose hide. He secured the skin off the hind legs of a moose, 
and by using the joint skins for the heel of his moccasin, made 
quite a comfortable article of footwear. Others made them 
Indian fashion. 

Before they got through the wilderness, some of the men 
boiled their moose hide moccasins, ate them and drank the 
broth. The last two or three days many of them had absolutely 
nothing to eat. 

After they reached the French settlements, they were well 



treated, and everything was supplied them that the Frenchmen 
could provide for so many men. 

In after life, when relating his war experiences, he said, "The 
French were good to the American soldiers." 

On the 31st day of December, 1775, they moved down to 
Quebec, starting at two o'clock in the morning, and by daylight 
began the attack on the British stronghold. General Montgom- 
ery, leading the attack, fell at the first fire. General Morgan, 
his successor, kept up the fight, until unable to advance in the 
face of such tremendous odds. He took refuge in the neigh- 
boring houses, where he was finally compelled to surrender. 

Arnold, on the other side of the city, was severely wounded 
in his leg, while bravely fighting at the head of his troops, and 
was borne to the rear. Cagtain Morgan, with sixty men, of 
whom Moses Fellows was one, went to within twenty rods of the 
Palace Gate, and discharged five mortars at the city. They 
were fired upon from the castle, with double headed shot. This 
was about the last of the batttle. Arnold's command then re- 
treated. 

Smallpox broke out among the troops before the battte, and 
from this cause, the. little army was badly disabled. 

About the middle of January, 1776, all of Arnold's men who 
were not taken prisoners, left for Montreal. 

On arriving there, the time for which he enlisted having ex- 
pired, he was discharged. They left with their baggage, for 
Fort Chambly, where he enlisted for two and one half months, 
after serving his time out. He was detained in the service four 
weeks, then discharged. 

He and his Salisbury comrade, John Bowen, with others, 
started for home, a distance of about 500 miles ; on the journey, 
someone killed a partridge ; another killed a crow; they skinned 
them and put the partridge's skin on the crow's body, and ex- 
changed the false partridge at the first tavern they came to, for 
some rum to cheer them up. 



He arrived honfie about the first of June, 1776, having been 
gone a little over a year, he resumed his labors on the farm. 

In April, 1777, he re-enlisted for three years' service as 
Orderly- Sergeant, in Captain Gray's Company; along with him 
enlisted eight other Salisbury men^ at this time. 

This Company was assigned to Colonel Scammel's Regiment, 
known as the Third New Hampshire, and immediately went to 
Ticonderoga, where they kept garrison, until the night of the 
5th of July following, when they evacuated the Fort, and it fell 
into the hands of the British, under General Burgoyne. 

From there they went to Fort Ann, and were in the battle of 
the Blockhouse. From Fort Ann they went to Fort Edward, 
ariving about midnight, and camped without tents. He was 
taken sick there with fever and ague, and taken to the hospital 
at Albany, New York. 

He next joined the army at Bemis Heights, near Stillwater, 
where they fortified. 

On the 19th of September, 1777, about 10 o'clock in the 
morning, the British army advanced to attack in three columns. 
General Burgoyne commanded the centre, General Fraser, the 
right, and Generals Phillips and Riedesel the left wing. Upon 
the front, and flanks of the columns, hung Indians, Tories and 
Canadians. 

General Gates sent out Captain Morgan, with his riflemen, 
and Major Dearborn with his infantry. 

Captain Morgan passed unobserved, through a piece of woods, 
and drove back a party of Canadians and Indians, and unex- 
pectedly came upon the main body of the British troops. His 
men were scattered. For a moment he was left alone, but a 
shrill whistle brought his sharp shooters around him. At this 
momentj Colonels Cilley and Scammel, coming to his aid with 
the New Hampshire Regiments, a sharp contest ensued for a 
time. Then a lull followed. The British brought up their can- 
non, and the patriots, the Connecticut militia under General 
Cook. At 3 o'clock p. m., the fight began with great vigor. 



The patriots captured the British cannon, who, in turn, rallied 
and recaptured them. This was done several times. The battle 
raged with great fury, until darkness compelled the patriots to 
quietly withdraw to their intrenchments. Twice during the 
evening there was sharp skirmishings and the last American did 
not leave the field until ii o'clock p. m. The losses in this 
battle were heavy, on both sides. 

The armies lay within cannon shot of each other until the 7th 
of October, when the British marched out and formed in double 
ranks within a mile of the American camp, and waited events* 
Morgan, with his riflemen. Poor's New Hampshire brigade, and 
Dearborn's Light Infantry were ordered to attack. Steadily the 
New Hampshire men mounted up the slope, reciving one volley, 
and then with a yell, charged for the guns. So fierce was the 
fight that one piece was taken and retaken several times. The 
British lines finally broke. At the second charge of the impetu- 
ous Arnold, leading a part of Learned's Brigade, the British 
centres gave way, and the Americans urged the pursuit to the 
very intrenchments of the enemy. 

At night. General Burgoyne evacuated a part of his intrench- 
ments and the next day renewed his retreat, but being hemmed 
in on all sides, he finally surrendered his army, with arms and 
stores, on the 17th of October, 1777. Thus ended the battle o' 
Saratoga. 

After this fight, they went to Fishkill, and from there, marched 
to Whitemarsh, to join General Washington. From Whitemarsh 
they went to Valley Forge, starting Dec. 11, 1777. it was a 
long and painful march of eight days. 

On reaching Valley Forge, they had to build their own hut 
encampments, cutting down trees, and erecting log houses for 
their winter quarters. Their sufferings at Valley Forge have 
hardly been equalled in the history of any war. They were 
without food, without clothes, and without fuel. Straw could 
not be obtained. Soldiers who were enfeebled by hunger, be- 
numbed with cold, were obliged to sleep on the bare ground* 



Sickness followed, and within three weeks 2000 men were unfit 
for duty. 

While Washington was walking with a distinguished foreign 
officer one day along the streets, among the huts, they heard 
voices through the open crevices between the logs, saying, "No 
pay, no clothes, no medicine, no food, no rum," 

Meat was not seen for weeks at a time, and frequently when 
it did appear, the rib bones would be round, indicating "horse 
beef." The terrible hardships at Valley Forge caused the death 
of four men in Captain Gray's Company, who enlisted from 
Salisbury when he did. Their names were : Ephraim Heath, 
Reuben Greeley, Philip Lufkins, and William Bayley. 

They died in March and April, 1778. 

Early in February, 1778, Baron Steuben arrived in camp, and 
was received with great enthusiasm. He soon had the army 
drilling under his supervision. He was very particular in every 
detail, himself inspecting each soldier's musket and accoutre- 
ments. He was obliged to use an interpreter to explain what 
he wanted to do, or have done. When things did not go to suit 
him he would swear in the French, German and Russian lan- 
guages, all at once, to the no slight amusement of the soldiers. 

Towards spring a new quartermaster was appointed, in the 
person of General Greene, and he soon changed the condition 
of affairs. Provisions began to appear in camp, and the half- 
starved soldiers, when well fed, wore a smile. Everything began 
to improve, and the men began to tell stories and crack jokes. 

The American army left Valley Forge, crossed the Delaware 
river, and was ordered to pursue the enemy in the Jerseys. On 
the 27th of June, 1778, his detachment was ordered to Mon- 
mouth, and the next day, the 28th, a hot and sultry morning, 
they met the enemy, and a severe engagement was fought, with 
indecisive results. In the midst of the battle he saw a British 
officer with a horse. He took possession of them, conducted 
them to the rear, and delivered the officer to the proper guards, 
and eventually sold the horse for $40.00 



Many men died from the effects of the heat alone, during the 
battle, the mercury standing at g6 above zero, in the shade. 

A few days after the Battle of Monmouth, they were ordered 
to White Plains. They moved very slowly, it being very warm, 
and numbers died from the heat on the march. Some of the 
men were so thirsty that when they came to a well or spring of 
water, they drank so much they died almost instantly. He 
drank sparingly until his thirst was quenched. 

While at White Plains he was taken sick, and removed to the 
hospital at Tarrytown. After his recovery he returned to his 
regiment, which soon went into winter quarters at Middlebrook, 
New Jersey. 

In the spring of 1779 his regiment was assigned to General 
Sullivan's army, under orders to march against the Indians in 
the western part of New York, to avenge the Wyoming and 
Cherry Valley massacres. This expedition was planned and 
ordered by General Washington. 

It was late in August when they started from Wyoming, Penn- 
sylvania, going northward, up the Susquehanna river, drawing 
their stores and artillery up the river in 150 boats. At Tioga, 
New York, they were joined by General Clinton, with 1000 New 
York troops, who had marched from Albany, up the Mohawk 
river and Canajoharie creek, to Otsego lake; thence down the 
Susquehana to Tioga. 

The result of this expedition was almost the total annihila- 
tion of the Six Nations ; their homes and crops were destroyed ' 
many of their braves were slain, and whole tribes were scattered. 

After they returned from this campaign they went into quar- 
ters at Morristown, New Jersey, where they suffered nearly, if 
not quite, as much as they did at Valley Forge. 

The lack of bread, meat and clothes, formed the burden of 
their story. They went thirty-six days on half rations, and less. 

The Continental money was so depreciated that $40.00 in 
bills was worth only $1.00 in silver. A soldier's pay for six 
months would hardly buy a dinner. A pair of boots cost $600.00 



12 

in bills, and a glass of rum, when it could be found at all, could 
not be purchased for less than $25.00. Washington was forced 
to make requsition upon the surrounding country, for food and 
raiment for his men. The farmers voluntarily sent in provisions, 
shoes, coats and blankets, while the women, ever loyal, met to- 
gether to knit stockings and sew garments for the needy troops. 

Spring came at last, and the time for which he enlisted having 
expired, he was honorably discharged as an Orderly-Sergeant, 
at West Point, on the 20th day of April, 1780, and returned to 
his home at Salisbury. 

Upon his discharge, the orders were to turn in to the Govern- 
ment all arms that passed inspection. Moses Fellows hated to 
part with his dear old gun, which he had carried for five years, 
and so it happened that when the inspecting officer came around 
to examine his weapons the lock of his gun was missing, but 
after the officer had passed on, it was fortunately discovered in 
the tail of his coat. 

During his long life after the war, the old gun occupied a 
conspicuous position, hanging on hooks, over the fireplace, in 
his Salisbury home, and is now preserved as a much treasured 
relic by one of his descendants. (His name further appears in 
the records of Salisbury, as enlisting again in the spring of 1780, 
and again the record says he enlisted in November, 178 1, for 
three years' service, and his name was returned to Colonel 
Stickney. These enlistments might have been as minute man, 
or home guard, but after his discharge in 1780, he did not return 
to active service.) 

After retiring from the army he gave his attention to clearing 
and developing the farm, where he lived, until his death. After 
March 4, 1831, he drewa pension from the Government of $100.00 
a year, until his decease, which occurred Jan, 30, 1846, aged 90 
years, 5 months and 21 days. In his declining years it was a 
pleasure for him to meet his old comrades in arms, around his 
fireside, and talk over the scenes of army life, and the children 
of the neighborhood would gather around the old man, and learn 



13 

from him, lessons of patriotism, as illustrated by his stirring ex- 
periences in the past. Before their eager, wondering eyes, he 
would develop his old campaigns; he would don his faded Con- 
tinental regalia, and explain the manual of army drill as taught 
him by Baron Steuben sixty years before : with a trail of lighted 
powder he would illustrate the blaze of Continental fire, which 
met the Red Coats at Bunker Hill, and the young lads, some 
of whom were to act in similar scenes at Little Round Top and 
Cemetery Ridge, would raise a boyish cheer for the brave old 
veteran. 

He lies buried in the old cemetery, at Salisbury South Road, 
and a substantial granite monument, recently erected by his de- 
scendants, marks his honored grave. 

I have given you the story of one who bore an humble 
but honorable part in the struggle which fixed the destiny of a 
mighty nation. Imperfect, and inaccurate, in a measure, no 
doubt, for it has been handed down, without authentic record, 
through four generations, but I have desired to do it, so far as 
able, to the end that in some century to come, when some other 
Gilmore, or Gould, or Brown, may be poring over the musty 
records of an ancient, and long since defunct Historical Societys 
they may find there in the catacombs of a remote period, the story 
of a private soldier in the American Revolution. I believe sin- 
cerely in the aim of this Association : That we should perpetu- 
ate the record of those who have aided in building the substan- 
tial structure of our great Republic, that we should profit from 
their stern example. 

"Rememberiug still the rugged road our venerable fathers trod, 
Wheu they, through toil and danger pressed, to gain their glorious 

bequest, 
And from each lip, the watchword fell, 
To those who followed,— GUARD IT WELL." 



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